A&M's Pretensions to Parody

by Judy Quinn
|

Jun 09, 1997

Andrews &McMeel senior editor Jake Morrissey recalls that it started with a loincloth. Soon after the January 23, 1994, "Doonesbury" comic strip mocked the upscale and eccentric J. Peterman clothing catalogue, "a bunch of us were sitting around talking about what an amazing catalogue it was, how we secretly ordered from it and how we reveled in the prose." Morrissey and staffers started riffing on perfect faux products for the catalogue -- and came up with copy to justify a $49 loincloth: "I met him while on safari in Kenya. He was tall and fierce. A hunter of wild boar. With muscled legs and sinewy arms. A man who knew how to dress for the heat," read the perfect (or is it purple?) prose.

This Tarzan fantasy snowballed into what is now The J. Pretension Catalog: Owner's Manual No. H2SO4 (that's the formula for acid), a parody catalogue that ships with a 20,000-copy initial printing this month. The nearly 100 product entries, accompanied by Peterman-like illustrations, range from the gritty ("The Sing-Sing Shirt... One size: L. One color: Gray. You got a problem with that? We didn't think so." ) to the literary ("The Dorothy Parker safety razor... Because like Mrs. Parker, you understand the true meaning of melodrama.") to the uh, current-events conscious (clips so one Mr. Simpson won't see gloves go astray). And, in appropriate Peterman exotica, the catalogue, shaped like the unusual, oblong original, had to be printed in Asia. "No publisher here would do it for that small a print run," explained Morrissey. The original catalogue is printeds here in the U.S. -- but has a run in the "hundreds of thousands," Morrissey said.

Morrissey and company will have to wait and see just what kind of royalties they might receive -- "We had enough trouble convincing management it was a good book idea!" -- and have also been trying to work the Seinfeld angle, since that show, of course, spoofs Peterman as well. "I sent a copy to Julia Louis-Dreyfus [who plays Peterman worker Elaine Benes] but have heard nothing so far," said Morrisey. He hopes to have better luck creating bookstore events near the three Peterman stores in Lexington, Ky., Chattanooga, Tenn., and Manchester, Vt. "We plan to do as much guerrilla publicity as possible," said Morrisey. No doubt he'll think of the perfect Peterman -- or Pretension -- ensemble to wear while doing it.

A version of this article appeared in the 06/09/1997 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline:

PW has integrated its print and digital subscriptions, offering exciting new benefits to subscribers, who are now entitled to both the print edition and the digital editions of PW (online or via our app). For instructions on how to set up your accout for digital access, click here. For more information, click here.

The part of the site you are trying to access is now available to subscribers only. Subscribers: to set up your digital subscription with the new system (if you have not done so already), click here. To subscribe, click here.

Thank you for visiting Publishers Weekly. There are 3 possible reasons you were unable to login and get access our premium online pages.

You are NOT a current subscriber to Publishers Weekly magazine. To get immediate access to all of our Premium Digital Content try a monthly subscription for as little as $18.95 per month. You may cancel at any time with no questions asked. Click here for details about Publishers Weekly’s monthly subscription plans.

You are a subscriber but you have not yet set up your account for premium online access.Add your preferred email address and password to your account.

You forgot your password and you need to retrieve it. Click here to access the password we have on file for you.